At 11:30 a.m. on March 14, United Academics of the University of Oregon held a rally outside the Ford Alumni Center in support of a fair contract for faculty and staff.
The rally came nearly a month after the union declared impasse with UO administration after 12 months of failed contract negotiations.
Approximately 300 union and community members gathered in front of the Ford Alumni Center. The group then moved down to the front of the Erb Memorial Union and Johnson Hall, UO’s administrative building, into two picket lines.
Protestors were chanting various chants, including:
“UO works because we do”
“Who are we?” “United Academics!”
“What do we want?” “A fair contract!”
“When do we want it? “Now!”
“And what are we gonna do if we don’t get it?” “Go on strike!”
Mike Urbancic, UA president and senior instructor II of economics, led the speaking portion of the rally.
Urbancic said that the faculty and staff do not want to go on strike, but they are prepared to fight for a fair contract and that may mean “striking to strengthen.”
Victoria Piñeiro, UO Student Workers Union lead bargainer, also spoke. She highlighted how UOSW and UA both have a “shared struggle” as UOSW just declared impasse with the university. She also said that UOSW “stands in unconditional solidarity with every single UA member willing to fight for the rights of themselves and their colleagues.”
Autumn Shafer, associate professor of public relations, said she “loves her job,” but many of her colleagues have left because of the university’s non-competitive wages, forcing her to “stretch (her)self thinner” and putting a lot of strain on her to pick up the slack.
Shafer also said if the UO administration doesn’t recognize UA’s “collective strike” among faculty and staff, she is “concerned that there will be a strike the first or second week of spring term.”
“I don’t want that (strike). I hope that the UO administration doesn’t want that either, but we are moving in that direction,” Shafer said.
Nathan Whalen, senior instructor II of Spanish romance languages and chair of the grievances & contract administration committee for UA, said that this would “potentially be the first strike at an institution of higher learning in the state of Oregon.”
On March 11, the union opened a vote for a faculty strike authorization vote. The vote closed on March 14 and passed with a 92% approval, according to an Instagram post by the union.
UO Spokesperson Angela Seydel said that university administration “support(s) the right of (its) faculty to organize and negotiate,” in regards to the strike.
“We are committed to negotiating a new contract with United Academics that positions UO faculty and the university for long-term success. We have made progress toward that goal and will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair and workable agreement,” Seydel said.
